Micah Parsons' gravity on full display as pass rush comes alive against the Vikings
J.J. McCarthy didn't stand a chance. The Green Bay defense heated him up all game, led by Micah Parsons, and the attention on Parsons allowed others to feast as well.
Good morning!
The Green Bay Packers didn’t need much from Jordan Love as Micah Parsons, the pass rush, and Emanuel Wilson took care of the Minnesota Vikings in a decisive 23-6 beatdown.
Matt LaFleur went ultra-conservative with a run-heavy gamescript despite Josh Jacobs missing the game, but the defense played its most dominant football since September with five sacks and two turnovers forced. The special teams added another one.
In today’s Monday newsletter, we dig into Parsons’ gravity, Wilson’s big day, and lingering personnel questions.
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Micah Parsons became the second player
Peter Bukowski: Only two players in NFL history have 10+ sacks through their first five seasons, and they’re both Packers: Reggie White and Parsons, who posted another pair of sacks.
The difference this week, though, was how it affected everyone else. Rashan Gary, Devonte Wyatt, and the rest of the defensive line barely impacted Jameis Winston and the New York Giants. Jeff Hafley brought more pressure looks this week, and the non-Parsons defenders cleaned up when Parsons drew attention or flushed J.J. McCarthy.
Wyatt nearly had two safeties thanks to Parsons’ pressures, Warren Brinson and Isaiah McDuffie shared a sack on a beautiful combined rep, and Gary nearly (maybe?) had a sack-fumble on the play McDuffie came away with what was officially ruled an interception.
On one of Wyatt’s sacks, Parsons got a running start off the ball, dump-trucked Ryan Kelly and flushed McCarthy to the right, where Wyatt chased him down at the one-foot line.
These are the kinds of plays we saw early in the season with Parsons wrecking the game not just for his own splash plays, but for others as well. Gary’s near sack-fumble even came when he got chipped, but the chip pushed him wide enough that he barely had to beat the backup left tackle en route to McCarthy.
Parsons being a maniac messes with opposing protection plans, and when the rest of the front can get home like it, this defense is as good as any in the NFL.
Can Matt LaFleur break out of his play-calling rut?
PB: Last week, Jason suggested this same question was answered, but here we are again.
“I’ve never called the same run so many times consecutively,” LaFleur joked after the game.
“I just thought with the way our defense was playing, we just took the air out of the ball, and said, ‘Go win it for us.’”
But it wasn’t a joke. At one point, with a chance to break the Vikings and go up three scores, LaFleur opted to run the ball seven straight times and kick a field goal. There’s nothing funny about that.
LaFleur laughed again when asked if it’s so important to get a lead, how the team can gameplan to get a lead early. The Packers’ head coach rightly pointed out the team scored on two of its three first-half possessions, but one of the reason they’re getting into they long-possession games is their insistence on running the ball.
On the day, the Packers averaged just 3.5 yards per carry. It’s not as if they were gashing the Vikings over and over. Wilson put together the first 100-yard game for a Packers back in a calendar year, but averaged under four yards per carry. Thirty-eight called runs to 22 passes doesn’t make sense.
Luckily, Jordan Love played good football on third down yet again, leading the best third-down offense in the NFL to a stellar 7/14 performance on the money down Sunday. That was with a handful of ugly third-and-short miscues where the Packers couldn’t execute due to what LaFleur deemed missed assignments by the offensive line.
But that’s the point: everything has to go right for a run to work. For a pass two work, Love can simply go make a play as he did on a third-and-10 blitz, where he hit a fadeaway jumper to Dontayvion Wicks against heavy pressure.
Love’s injury, combined with Josh Jacobs’ absence, likely contributed to a conservative game script. The Packers’ defense dominated, and LaFleur felt like playing “three yards and a cloud of dust” (his words) was the best way to win.
Maybe it wasn’t the best way, but at Lambeau it was, at least, one way.
A slew of key backups stepped up as the Packers prepared to play two games in five days
PB: LaFleur had to shuffle lineups on both sides of the ball, both before and during the game, and seemingly all of them played a key role in the outcome.
Jacobs said before the game that if he didn’t play, he’d be ready to go for the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving. In his stead, Wilson had a career day with 107 yards on 28 carries. He also caught two passes and held up well enough when asked to pass protect. If Jacobs misses time moving forward, Green Bay knows it can count on Wilson to carry the rushing responsibilities.
Keisean Nixon went down in the first half after running into Wyatt on the sideline (Side note: help your teammates out and catch them on the sideline rather than shoudler check them). Kamal Hadden came in and offered nice run support as well as solid coverage. LaFelur said after the game Hadden has improved as much as any player on the team and Jeff Hafley told the broadcast team Hadden has been so good im practice, they were looking for ways to get him on the field. Justin Jefferson had four catches for 48 yards, and it’s unclear if Jordan Addison actually played. That wasn’t all Hadden, of course, but he didn’t hurt the Packers against those superlative skill guys.
Anthony Belton and Jordan Morgan rotated early at right guard before Belton settled in to play nearly all the snaps. LaFleur, though cautious in his praise without the tape, complimented his rookie stepping in with his first play in the NFL as a guard. Morgan hasn’t played well enough to be immune from competition, and with Sean Rhyan now the starting center, Belton may have just taken his job.
John FitzPatrick opened the game in 11 personnel with Green Bay, and while that didn’t spell the end of Luke Musgrave, it does signal where the Packers are with their former second-round pick. On the other hand, it makes sense to stick with FitzPatrick in those three receiver sets because Musgrave can’t help as a blocker much, and they have plenty of juice with their current receiver room. Putting Musgrave out there in 12 and six offensive line sets allows him to be a more natural receiver. He drew a critical defensive pass interference call to set up a Packers touchdown.
Isaiah McDuffie shone in place of Quay Walker, playing one of his best games as a Packer. He had an interception, a sack, and led the team in tackles. He brought physicality to the position and looked decisive. He’s a more natural MIKE linebacker than a SAM, where he had been playing for Green Bay with Walker out there.
Parting shot
PB: We are bringing back this prompt this week because the Packers took a shot at the Vikings as the game came to a close. After Evan Williams caught what he described as the easiest interception he’d get, the Green Bay defense ran to the end zone and performed the “Skol” clap with the Lambeau faithful.
It was a troll, and a delicious one for a Packers team that hadn’t beaten the Vikings at Lambeau since the 2022 ass-kicking they handed to the most fraudulent regular-season team in NFL history.
